Five dead in Cairo clashes between Muslim Brotherhood and army

Five people were shot dead yesterday after thousands of supporters of ousted
president Mohammed Morsi clashed with riot police across Cairo, demanding
the end of amy-backed rule.

Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear masks with the former leader's likeness showing an open palm with four raised fingers, which has become a symbol of the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where Morsi supporters had held a sit-in for weeks that was violently dispersed in August during a protest.Photo: Hassan Ammar/AP

By Our Foreign Staff

3:41PM BST 04 Oct 2013

The Egyptian army fired live rounds on Islamist demonstrators from the Muslim Brotherhood, who descended on Tahrir Square after Friday prayers.

Security forces also fired tear gas and shot in the air elsewhere in the city as local residents and protesters threw stones.

“Down down with the murderer” protesters chanted, in reference to Defense Minister and Army Chief Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who forced Mr Morsi out of power after millions took to the streets this past summer demanding he step down.

Four of the dead were shot in clashes in the southern city of Assuit, medical and health sources said. It was not clear which side they were on.

It was also reported that a number of police officers were also injured.

The marches were the most ambitious attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood to press its demands since August 14, when authorities smashed two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and then declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew.

The Muslim Brotherhood group, from which Mr Morsi hails, is ramping up protests ahead of Oct 6, a national holiday seen by Egyptians as a military victory in the 1973 war with Israel, in a show of force.

The Brotherhood yesterday called on the army to stop interfering in the politics.

“As we celebrating the anniversary of the victory of Oct 6, 1973 we need a new victory; victory achieved by the people - unfortunately - on those who turned against the people for their personal interests, until the coup undertakers return to their mind and return to their barracks respecting the will of the people,” the group said in a statement.

Yesterday’s violence came a day after European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks in Cairo with top government officials, Gen Sisi, and two Brotherhood politicians and urged both sides to pursue reconciliation.

There was no sign either side was prepared to heed her call.

Hundreds of people were killed in mid-August when the security forces broke up Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo. Many of the Brotherhood’s top leaders have been arrested since.

“They (the government) want a country without religion,” said protester Rasha al-Malky.